聯合國最新一項研究顯示，全球70億人口中，60億都有手機可用，但只有45億有廁所可上。該研究報告指出，印度沒有廁所可上的總人口數占全球此類人群的60%，約為6.26億人，而印度國內擁有的手機數量則高達10億；與此相對應的是，在全球第一人口大國——中國，只有1400萬人沒有廁所可上。數據顯示，每年死于痢疾的人口高達75萬，多數是因為沒有如廁設施，衛生條件無法得到保證。聯合國常務副秘書長埃利亞松表示，如廁問題是很多人不愿討論的問題，但這又是保證數十億人健康、擁有環境清潔和基本人格尊嚴的核心問題。 他表示，聯合國正在發起一項全球性的活動，希望在2015年將無廁所可上的人口減至目前的一半。

A new United Nations study has found that more people around the world have access to a cellphone than to a working toilet.

A new United Nations study has found that more people around the world have access to a cellphone than to a working toilet.

The study’s numbers claim that of the world’s estimated 7 billion people, 6 billion have access to mobile phones. However, only 4.5 billion have access to a toilet.

At a press conference announcing the report, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson announced the organization is launching an effort to halve the number of those without access by the end of 2015.

“Let’s face it—this is a problem that people do not like to talk about. But it goes to the heart of ensuring good health, a clean environment and fundamental human dignity for billions of people,” Eliasson said at the press conference.

In August 2012, the Bill Gates Foundation began its own effort to “reinvent the toilet” as a way to help curb the number of people around the world without access to sanitary waste disposal.

Interestingly, the report states that India alone is responsible for 60 percent of the world’s population that does not use a toilet, an estimated 626 million individuals. Yet, at the same time, there are an estimated 1 billion cellphones in India.

Conversely, in the world’s most highly populated country, China, only 14 million people do not have access to a toilet. However, there are also fewer cellphones in China, 986 million, according to the Daily Mail.

Driving the point home, more than 750,000 people die each year from diarrhea and one of its primary causes is from unsanitary conditions created in communities without access to toilets.

And there are other benefits of installing more modern sanitation options that don’t immediately come to mind.

“This can also improve the safety of women and girls, who are often targeted when they are alone outdoors,” said Martin Mogwanja, deputy executive director of the U.N. Children’s Fund. “And providing safe and private toilets may also help girls to stay in school, which we know can increase their future earnings and help break the cycle of poverty.”

(Source: Yahoo! News)

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen ）